Dynamics of Innovation in an “Open Source” Collaboration Environment: Lurking, Laboring and Launching FLOSS Projects on SourceForge

A systems analysis perspective is adopted to examine the critical properties of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) mode of innovation, as reflected on the SourceForge platform (SF.net). This approach re-scales March’s (1991) framework and applies it to characterize the “innovation system” of a “distributed organization” of interacting agents in a virtual collaboration environment. The innovation system of the virtual collaboration environment is an emergent property of two “coupled” processes: one involves interactions among agents searching for information to use in designing novel software products, and the other involves the mobilization of individual capabilities for application in the software development projects. Micro-dynamics of this system are studied empirically by constructing transition probability matrices representing movements of 222,835 SF.net users among 7 different activity states. Estimated probabilities are found to form first-order Markov chains describing ergodic processes. This makes it possible to computate the equilibrium distribution of agents among the states, thereby suppressing transient effects and revealing persisting patterns of project-joining and project-launching.innovation systems, collaborative development environments, industrial districts, exploration and exploitation dynamics, open source software, FLOSS, SourceForge, project-joining, project-founding, Markov chain analysis.

FLOSSTV Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) within participatory 'TV hacking' Media and Arts Practices

This research operates in the context of a European political discourse, where the main concern is counter­cultural approaches to non­ mandatory collaboration and contractual agreements. FLOSSTV (Free, Libre, Open Source Software TV) covers a broad range of practices, from television via documentary up to media arts productions. This thesis documents the endeavour to formulate a policy for FLOSS culture. FLOSSTV studies the impact of new intellectual property legislation on media production, as well as conceptions and applications of collective authorship and alternative licensing schemes. FLOSSTV sets out to explore methods that can facilitate media and arts practitioners wishing to engage in collaborative media productions. The thesis sets out to investigate the theories and histories of collaborative media and arts productions in order to set the ground for an exploration of the tools, technologies and aesthetics of such collaborations. The FLOSSTV thesis proposes a set of contracts and policies that allow for such collaborations to develop. It is through practice that this research explores FLOSS culture, including its methods, licensing schemes and technologies. In order to focus the research within the field of FLOSSTV I initiated the practice ­based Deptford.TV pilot project as the central research experiment for the FLOSSTV thesis. DVD ONE contains a series of films produced collaboratively for Deptford.TV that express the characteristics and contractual arrangements of FLOSS culture. Deptford.TV is an online audiovisual database primarily collecting media assets around the Deptford area, in South­East London, UK. Deptford.TV functions as an open, collaborative platform that allows artists, film­makers, researchers and participants of the local workshops in and around Deptford, and also beyond Deptford, to store, share, re­edit and redistribute their footage and projects. The open and collaborative nature of the Deptford.TV project demonstrates a form of shared media practice in two ways: audiences become producers by submitting their own footage, and the database enables the contributors to interact with each other. Through my practice­lead research project Deptford.TV I argue that, by supporting collaborative methods and practices, FLOSS (Free, Libre, Open Source Software) can empower media and arts practitioners to collaborate in production and distribution processes of media and arts practices

The first case report of dental floss pick-related injury presenting with massive hemoptysis: A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>A tracheobronchial foreign body is a rarely mentioned cause of massive hemoptysis. Although an aspirated toothpick is a well-known cause of traumatic injury to the respiratory tract, a similar device called a dental floss pick, which is much larger than a toothpick, has never been described as a tracheobronchial foreign body.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a case of massive hemoptysis in a 32-year-old man due to a dental floss pick in the left main bronchus. Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy was successful in removing the foreign body.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Tracheobronchial foreign body can be a medical emergency requiring immediate intervention and massive hemoptysis may be the presenting symptom. Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is recommended as the first-line treatment modality for tracheobronchial foreign body removal. A dental floss pick may present as a tracheobronchial foreign body and can reside in the airway asymptomatically for many years.</p

Emergent Decision-Making Practices In Technology-Supported Self-Organizing Distributed Teams

We seek to identify work practices that make technology-supported, self-organizing, distributed (or virtual) teams (TSSODT for short) effective in producing outputs satisfactory to their sponsors, meeting the needs of their members, and continuing to function. A particularly important practice for team effectiveness is decision making: are the right decisions made at the right time to get the work done in a way that satisfies team sponsors, keeps contributors happy and engaged, and enables continued team success? In this research-in-progress paper, we report on an inductive qualitative analysis of 120 decision episodes taken by two Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams. Our analysis revealed differences in decision-making practices that seem to be related to differences in overall team effectiveness

The Eternal Network:The Ends and Becomings of Network Culture

‘The network is everlasting’ wrote Robert Filliou and George Brecht in 1967, a statement that, at first glance, still seems to be true of today’s world. Yet there are also signs that the omnipresence of networks is evolving into another reality. In recent times, the limits of networks rather than their endless possibilities have been brought into focus. Ongoing media debates about hate speech, fake news, and algorithmic bias swirl into a growing backlash against networks. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the contemporary reach and relevance of the network imaginary.Accompanying transmediale 2020 End to End’s exhibition ‘The Eternal Network’, this collection gathers contributions from artists, activists, and theorists who engage with the question of the network anew. In referencing Filliou’s eternal notion, the exhibition and publication project closes the loop between pre- and post-internet imaginaries, opening up possible futures with and beyond networks. This calls many of the collection’s authors to turn to instances of independent and critical net cultures as historical points of inspiration for rethinking, reforming, or refuting networks in the present